Kat has been highlighted for her work developing sustainable and recyclable plastics.

For the last decade Chemical and Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly industrial press for the chemistry and chemical engineering fields published by the American Chemical Society (ACS), has selected a dozen early-career scientists to highlight. Each year the Talented 12 introduces researchers from across disciplines who are using their chemistry know-how to make societal impacts.

This year more than 350 young chemists and chemical engineers were nominated, which was whittled down to 12 by the panel reviewing the different impacts of the research. Research done by members of the class include materials that could help hearts heal, measuring aerosol particles to understand climate change, controlling charged particles to improve energy efficiency, using biology to solve environmental problems, explaining chemical movement with math, understanding pollutants, preventing drug side effects, providing insights into disease, improving food security, transforming waste water into valuable minerals and harnessing electrons to clean chemicals.

RASEI Fellow Kat Knauer was highlighted for her research on developing sustainable and recyclable plastics, driven by her passion for solving the plastic waste crisis. Check out the full story about the Talented 12 and the profile on Kat Knauer for all the details.